Visit - Whangarei - Whangarei Quarry Gardens - New Zealand
170 km north of Auckland, here is the Whangarei Quarry Gardens. It was designed by landscaper David Muir, who was our guide with Thomas Nance, who is now the garden manager. The particularity of this garden is to bring together 200 fragrant hybrid camellias, obtained by J.R. Finlay and Os Blumhardt, nurserymen of the region. It is a Garden of Excellence ICS.
J.R. Finlay's camellias are noted in the nomenclature, some are present in Europe. On this page, all the photos of the flowers presented are fragrant camellias, since this is the particularity and the attraction of this garden. We can see in the photo below one of the paths that is bordered by them. We visited the garden at the beginning of August.
Here we are at the start of our tour. We're back to the lush vegetation of New Zealand. We're very far north of the North Island.
First we come across camellias known in Europe, and botanicals, for which, once again, the climate is very favorable. They appreciate the mildness of the southern winter. Then we come to the area reserved for fragrant camellias.
We are told about the particularity of the collection of these fragrant hybrids. On the right, 'Fiona London', our favorite camellia during this trip. It deserved to be the 2800th camellia in the nomenclature.
There is also a part of the collection that includes better-known camellias.
This 'Fragrant Cascade' plant is the only one known to date, as it seems very difficult to propagate. Note its very drooping shape. It is also a J.R. Finlay creation.
Our tour comes to an end. We thank our guides for their hospitality. We must also mention the work of our volunteers. In particular, they are in charge of pruning the camellias. The pruning is done in a remarkable way and requires very specific know-how. This is what enables the camellias to maintain a balanced growth habit and beautiful flowering.